UEFA Rejects Ribbery’s Appeal

byPhilip MboyaonMay 6, 2010

Europe’s football governing body UEFA rejected French international and Bayern Munich winger Frank Ribery’s appeal to have his 3 game suspension reduced. As you can remember, Ribery was sent off in Bayern’s 1-0 first leg semi final victory over Lyon after his clash with Lisandro Lopez. Ribery is now left with two options: he can either take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or play the card that fate has dealt him.

Although a very instrumental part of Luis Van Gaal’s squad, Bayern still have enough depth in their ranks to deal with the Ribery’s suspension. Moreover, the Frenchman has only showed us flashes of his brilliance in Bayern’s last Champions League outings. If Robben were out on suspension then it definitely would have been a bigger blow to the Bavarians.

However, with Robben, Olic and Altintop ( Ribery’s outright replacement) in top form, Jose Mouinho should be careful not to underestimate the 4 time European champions.

Speaking to the press, Bayern chairman Karl Heinze-Rumminigge said that the club will proceed with the CAS option.

“We feel that this decision is much too harsh, we are determined to fight on.”

Inter who last night won the first of three possible titles by beating AS Roma 1-0 in the Copa Italia final will be glad to know that their opponents for the May 22nd Champions League final will be without one of their stars.

The Nerazzurri are on pole to defend their scudetto title after challengers Roma slumped to a 2-1 away defeat to Sampdoria 2 weeks ago to hugely dent any ambitions they may have had of lifting their first scudetto in 9 years. With 2 games left to play, the Giallorosso trail Inter by 2 points which will be hard to recover as Inter are not showing any signs of losing their remaining games.

So as we eagerly await the May 22nd showdown, lets remember that Ribery’s suspension will not play a big part in deciding the outcome of the match as many tend to believe.